The Admiral's Boy
by Diane Klepper
Summary: Admiral Owen Paris thinks about his son. This is the first part of "The Admiral's Family" series.


The Admiral's Boy  
  
  
By Diane Klepper  
  
  
(Author's note: This is the first part of a new series called 'The Admiral's Family." These   
stories will be about Admiral Owen Paris and his family with special emphasis on Tom.   
The names of Tom's sisters are taken from Jeri Taylor's novel Pathways. This story is set   
18 months after Voyager is declared lost and her crew is declared dead. The characters   
belong to Paramount. I'm just borrowing them.)   
  
  
Owen Paris tossed and turned in his bed. He looked over at his sleeping wife and   
smiled. It's a good thing Maggie is a heavy sleeper, he thought. I'm sure over the last 42   
years of marriage my restlessness would of kept her up most nights. Owen dropped his   
legs onto the thickly carpeted floor and put on his slippers. He walked over to the closet   
and took out the blue bathrobe that his daughter Moira got him for his last birthday. As he   
put the robe on he suddenly realized that the blue in the bathrobe was the same shade of   
blue as Tom's eyes. Damn it, he thought, Tom is gone. I have to accept that.  
  
Owen walked out of the master bedroom and into the hallway. The walls were   
covered with pictures of him and Maggie and their children. One picture quickly caught   
his attention. It was a picture Maggie took of him Kathleen, Moira, and Tom the day they   
took Tom home from the hospital. Owen was holding two day old Tom while Kathleen   
was sitting on his left side, and Moira was sitting on his other side. They were all smiling.   
Suddenly Owen mind flashed back to old memory.   
  
  
Newly appointed Admiral Owen Paris walked briskly through the maternity ward   
of Starfleet Medical. In one hand he held a bouquet of roses and in the other he held a   
small blue teddy bear. He entered the hospital room and saw Maggie sitting up in the bed   
humming to a small bundle in her arms.  
  
Maggie looked tired but to him she still looked beautiful in her white hospital   
gown. "Owen…come in. I have someone who would like to meet you."  
  
Owen walked to the bed and looked down at the bundle in Maggie's arms and for   
the first time he saw the baby in her arms. The baby was sleeping but from his viewpoint   
he saw a tiny head full of blonde curls.  
  
Maggie smiled, "Owen would you like to hold your boy?"  
  
Owen smiled, "It's a boy?"  
  
Maggie smirked. She wasn't born a Paris but after being married to one for twelve   
years she had learned to perform the Paris smirk down to perfection. "I told you this one   
was going to be a boy."  
  
Owen laughed, "Yes you did….but you're the one who didn't want to find out the   
sex."  
  
Maggie frowned, "I didn't want you to be disappointed if it was another girl."  
  
"Maggie I love my girls…If this one was a girl I would of loved her too."  
  
Maggie smiled, "I know that Owen…but I also know how much you wanted a   
son. Someone to carry on the family name and go into Starfleet. We both know neither   
Kathleen and Moira have any interest in a Starfleet career."  
  
"Maggie I just want my children to be happy."  
  
"I know that Owen…but sometimes I wish you would tell the girls that." Maggie   
heard a soft cry and looked down at her baby.   
  
Both of his eyes were open and for the first time Owen saw how blue his son's   
eyes were.  
  
Maggie smiled at the two most important men in her life. "Owen would you like   
to hold him "   
  
Owen nodded and she gently placed her son in his father's arms. The baby started   
crying a little louder and Owen smiled at him and said, "Hello Thomas Eugene Paris."   
Owen started rocking the baby and he quieted down. " Owen looked at his wife and   
frowned, "Darling I'm sorry I couldn't be here when you went into labor. I really wanted   
to be here."  
  
Maggie smiled at him, "Honey…I know that…you were on an away mission and   
the baby was early." She smirked at him and said, "I think little Tommy is going to be   
impatient just like his Daddy."  
  
Owen frowned, "I hope he inherits some of my better qualities too."  
  
Maggie yawned and said, "He will Owen…I know he will."  
  
  
  
Owen shook his head and sighed. "I can't think about him…not today," he   
whispered to himself." He decided to go downstairs to his study to get some of his   
paperwork down. He was about to go down the stairs when he noticed the door by the   
staircase was slightly opened. He walked over to the door and slowly opened it the rest of   
the way. He looked into the room and frowned. Even though no one has actually lived in   
the room for many years the room looked like it was ready for it's former occupant to   
come home. Owen knew that Maggie kept the room in order as a shrine to their lost son.   
For the first six months Maggie couldn't accept the fact that Tom was dead and Owen   
didn't have the heart to pack away Tom's old things. Then Maggie became involved with   
support groups for the families of the lost Voyager crew and it helped her to deal with her   
grief. She often asked Owen to attend the meetings with her but Owen just told her that   
he was fine and he didn't need to talk about his feelings about his lost son.  
  
Owen entered the room and looked around. He couldn't remember the last time he   
actually stepped into the room. He walked over to a bookcase and noticed that the   
bookcase was full of both old- fashioned books and padds. He picked up one book and   
read the title Ten Thousands League Under The Sea. He mind suddenly flashed back to   
the past:  
  
  
Owen Paris was reading a padd in his favorite chair in the living-room when he   
heard a small voice say, "Daddy."  
  
Owen looked down at his five- year old son who was wearing pajamas that was   
covered with spaceships. He was clutching his small blue teddy bear in one arm and a   
story padd in his other hand.  
  
Owen looked at his son and frowned, "Thomas…what are you still doing up. It's   
way past your bedtime."  
  
"I can't sleep. When will Mommy be home?"  
  
"Son… Mommy is at a committee meeting. She'll be home soon. Why don't you   
go back to bed."  
  
Tom looked at the padd in his hand and said, "Daddy will you please read me a   
story."  
  
"Tommy it's late."  
  
"Please Daddy. I'll go right to bed after the story. Please."  
  
Owen smiled at his young son and picked him up and put him on his lap. "One   
story young man…that's it."  
  
Tom smiled at him, "Yes, sir."  
  
Tom handed his father the padd. Owen looked at the padd which said, Ten   
Thousand Leagues Under The Sea and smiled, "Son…don't you have this book   
memorized by now."  
  
"I like it, Daddy."   
  
  
Forty-five minutes later Maggie Paris came home to find Tommy asleep in his   
father's lap Maggie frowned at her husband and said, "Owen Paris…what is Tommy   
doing out of bed."  
  
Owen smirked. "He couldn't sleep. I read him Jules Verne again."  
  
Maggie kissed Owen on the cheek. "That boy has a whole bookshelf full of story   
books and padds and all he ever wants to hear is Jules Verne."  
  
Owen smirked, "I guess that's what I get for reading him Jules Verne when he   
was a year old.". Owen stood up and still cradling Tom he placed his son's head on his   
shoulder. Tom stirred for a minute but he didn't wake up. "I'll put him to bed  
  
  
Owen found himself in the present starring at the Jules Verne novel. He placed   
the novel back down on the shelf and headed for the door. He was about to leave the   
room when something on the dresser caught his eye. He picked up a trophy that was   
shaped as a shuttle. The inscription on the trophy read:  
  
Thomas Eugene Paris  
First Place  
Shuttle Race   
12 to 14 Year old division  
  
  
His mind flashed back to Tom standing in front of his desk holding a trophy:   
  
  
Smiling Tom said, "Dad I won the race."  
  
Owen looked up from the padd he was reading and said, "Good job son."  
  
Tom licked his dry lips and said, "Mom is taking me, Moira and Kathleen out to   
dinner to celebrate. Can you come?"  
  
Owen who was too engrossed in the reading the padd to see the eagerness in his   
son's face said, "I'm sorry son…I have a lot of reports to get through tonight."  
  
"Can you come to the races next week? Mr.Harrison says I have the best time in   
the simulators and I have a good chance of winning next week too when we go through   
the obstacle courses."  
  
Owen frowned, "I'm sorry Tom…I'll have to go to Vulcan next week to meet   
with Ambassador Sarek."  
  
"But Dad you never come to my races. All my friends have their Dad's there but   
you never show up."  
  
Angrily Owen said, "Thomas I have an important job to do. Sometimes my work   
has to come first."  
  
"Your work always comes first."  
  
"Thomas…that's not true…You will understand better when you enter Starfleet."  
  
Tom looked defiantly at his father. "But Dad I don't want to got Starfleet…I want   
to join the Naval Patrol."  
  
Angrily Owen Paris looked at his son, "Thomas…you are twelve years old. You   
have to stop with this childish fantasy. No son of mine is entering the Naval Patrol. You   
will go to Starfleet."  
  
"But Dad."  
  
"Thomas I'm really busy right now. We will talk about this tonight. You go out   
with your mother and sisters and have fun."  
  
Knowing that when his father made up his mind about something he would never   
change Tom replied defeatedly "Yes, sir."   
  
  
  
Owen put the trophy down and frowned. "Oh Tom….if only"  
  
A soft feminine voice asked, "If only what?"  
  
Owen turned to see his wife standing there. Her long blonde hair, which she   
usually kept up in a bun was falling down her back. She was wearing an old yellow   
bathrobe and she walked up to her husband and said, "I woke up and noticed you were   
gone?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep."  
  
Maggie smiled at her husband, "Your thinking of him aren't you?"  
  
Owen smiled back at his wife of 42 years. "Am I that obvious?"   
  
Maggie hugged him. "Only too me my love… I have been thinking about him all   
day. Today would have been his birthday." Tears started falling down her cheeks. "Owen   
I miss my Tommy so much."  
  
Owen hugged her tightly, "Me too. I just wish he knew how much I loved him."  
  
Maggie pulled away from him. "Owen he knew."  
  
"How could he? …Maggie I said some hurtful things to him after he was kicked   
out of Starfleet. …I told him that I no longer considered him to be my son and he was not   
welcomed in my home?"  
  
"Owen you were angry. You didn't mean those things. Tom knew that."  
  
Owen sat on Tom's old bed and frowned, "You weren't there. You didn't see the   
look in his eyes the day he left…I never saw him look so angry."  
  
Maggie sat next to him. She took his right hand and held it tight. "Owen, Tom   
knew you loved him. The problem was your were both too much alike."  
  
"Maggie…Tom is nothing like me…If he takes after anyone it's you."  
  
Maggie smiled at him. "Tom may have my coloring but he is a lot like you. ..You   
are both stubborn. You both wanted your way all the time."  
  
"That's not true."  
  
"Owen it is. When Tommy was little he wanted to be just like you. He couldn't   
wait until he was old enough to join Starfleet. The problems didn't start until Tom was   
about ten or eleven. That was when you started lecturing about the proper way to behave   
as a Starfleet officer…Owen he was still a child but you pushed him to get the best   
grades."  
  
Owen frowned. "I had Tom's best interest at heart. He had such an intuition for   
flying at such an early age but remember how reckless he was."  
  
"I remember. We received two to three calls a week from his high school flight   
instructor complaining that Tom was either going too fast or flying recklessly. We were   
both afraid Tom would end up killing himself doing some crazy stunt."   
  
Owen smirked, "I remember I use to lecture him about following the rules and he   
would just stand there at perfect attention and say 'Yes, sir,' but I knew he wasn't   
listening. By the time he was fifteen he was able to tune out most of my lectures."  
  
Maggie smiled, "I remember he use to 'Yes, ma'am ' all the time because he   
knew I didn't like it". Maggie sat quietly for a minute and then said, "Owen I know Tom   
wasn't a saint and that he made a lot of mistakes but he never did any of it to hurt you. He   
wanted you to be proud of him."  
  
"I know that. I look back now and realize that I was too tough on him. I treated   
him more like a cadet then a son and the time he really needed a father I told him he   
wasn't my son anymore and threw him out of the house."  
  
Maggie squeezed her husband's hand and smiled, "Owen you both made   
mistakes. I like to think that if Tom was still alive he would of somehow gotten his life   
straightened out. I remember the one time I visited him in prison before he left for   
Voyager I made him promise me he wouldn't give up on his dream to fly again" Tears   
started to fall down her cheeks, "he promised me he wouldn't give up."  
  
Owen hugged his wife. "Maggie he didn't give up…he was always a fighter."  
  
Maggie gave a slight smile. "There is a Voyager family support group tomorrow.   
Owen will you go with me?"  
  
Owen smiled at his wife. "I would like that. Maybe the girls would like to come to   
and we can all go out to dinner and talk about Tom."  
  
Maggie gave her husband a gentle kiss on the lips and smiled. "I would like that.   
I'm sure Kathleen and Moira would like to talk about Tom too."  
  
"Good…I'll call them in the morning. Maggie, why don't you go back to bed. I'll   
be there in a minute."  
  
Maggie smiled at him. "Okay…I'll see you in a few minutes."  
  
Maggie got up and walked out of Tom's room and headed towards her bedroom.   
Owen got up and headed to the hallway and looked at the pictures on the wall. He took   
down a picture of Tom in his Academy uniform. Owen looked at the picture of a smiling   
Tom. And took into in to his and Maggie's bedroom. Maggie who was sitting on the bed   
asked with a perplexed look on her face, "Owen…why did you take that picture down."  
  
Owen smiled at her. "I think I'll take this picture to work with me and put it on   
my desk."  
  
Maggie smiled at him, "That's a wonderful idea." Maggie got up and started   
rummaging through a drawer. "I have the perfect frame for it. It will look nice there."  
  
Owen smiled at her. "I know…No matter what happened Tom will always be my   
son…my boy."   
  
With tears of happiness Maggie walked over to her husband and she hugged him   
tightly "Yes Owen…I know….He will always be your boy." 


End file.
